Thousands of children have vanished from school with authorities often having no idea where they are, according to figures seen by Sky News.
On a single day in spring this year, local authorities in England reported an estimated 24,700 children as missing education - a worrying snapshot of the crisis facing schools.
They are categorised as Children Missing Education (CME), and include any child of school age not in school or receiving an education anywhere else.
Last year a staggering 94,900 children went missing at some point during the 2021/22 academic year.
Often, they are youngsters who have moved on from one area to another and they have not been enrolled into a new school.
By law, councils have to take "all reasonable steps" to find these children, but many remain missing for long periods.
Sky News can reveal that the number of council staff in England whose job it is to monitor school absences has been cut by nearly half in the past decade, making it harder for a lot of councils to track children down.
